How power communicates at the capitol
On Sunday, the 14th of December, Civil Beatʻs Deputy Ideas Editor Richard Wiens penned an article about “The Silence of The Senate” and how leadership is “not talking”. Reading the piece, it became clear that while the article identifies the silence—something any observer of the Hawaiʻi Legislature readily recognizes—the deeper analysis of why that silence exists was largely absent. This writer understands why. Hawaii State CapitolPC: Charles O'Rear, Public domain, ...
A clearer look at Honolulu’s homeless strategy, courtesy of a neighborhood board
Sometimes, to figure out what is really going on, one has to look at alternative sources of information other than the news or even legislative briefings. While all of those can be informative, they are to a point. When it comes to, potentially, actually looking at an issue and seeing what the leaders really say, one source to find that, on occasion, is the Neighborhood Board minutes. This blogger, who ...
Brandon Dela Cruz’s voice lives on
Politics Hawaii with Stan Fichtman would not have existed without its co-founder, Brandon Dela Cruz, who, back in 2016, encouraged me, Stan Fichtman, to take ownership of the politicshawaii.com domain. Since then, the blog has published many pieces, yet Brandon chose to write only one himself. And it will be the only one we will be able to show, as he passed away suddenly on November 10, 2025. Brandon Dela ...
In a Game of Escalation, the Side Without Limits Wins
Over the first weekend of November 2025, a shutdown that had seemed locked in place began to move. Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled the chamber would remain in session to work toward a deal, and by Sunday night, procedural votes to advance a proposal cleared 60 votes. For many, the shift felt sudden — and welcome. But to this blogger, it quickly raised a question: Why did the standoff ...
The mission and the lawsuit: Elite schools under fire here and abroad
This humble blogger never expected that two schools tied to different chapters of his life — one where he attended in Hong Kong, and one that sits at the heart of Hawaiʻi’s identity — would be fighting lawsuits at the same time. Yet here we are. Hong Kong International School (HKIS), where this blogger spent part of his youth in the early 1990s, and Kamehameha Schools, an institution deeply intertwined ...
